As always, during the first week of May (this year it’s May 1 – 7, 2017) Canadians from coast to coast to coast will be engaged in online and in-person events to “encourage people from all walks of life to learn, talk, reflect, and engage others on all issues relating to mental health.”

We here at The Lucas Fiorella Friendship Bench and the #YellowIsForHello campaign are stepping up during CMHA’s Mental Health Awareness Week with plans for our biggest event ever! With your support, we hope to install 5 benches at 5 different schools in 5 different Provinces!

The goal of our group and campaign remains to encourage and facilitate peer-to-peer conversations about mental health and to connect more students to available on- and off-campus mental health resources.

By removing the barriers to conversation about mental health, fewer students will remain silent, and fewer students will turn to self-harm and suicide as an option.

We now have 27 benches installed across the country and have seen dramatic rises in the number of students talking about mental health but more importantly, an increase in the number of students asking for help from on-campus support teams!

And now we’re looking to engage more students and families in five more communities this May!

Will your school be one of them? Learn how you can get involved here – let’s make this happen!